Another Chance
by Dieabolic
Summary: As he laid in his own pool of blood, he wondered what happens to people when they die. Being reincarnated and given a second chance was not what he expected. But... being reborn into a manga? Male OC centered. ?xOMC
1. Death is Life

What happens when someone dies? Sam was about to find out as he stood in front of the man holding a gun at him. _Shit. _He'd gone and really screwed up now, hadn't he? This was not how he expected his Sunday afternoon to go down. He'd gone ahead and done something stupid… and now he was going to die, laying in his own pool of blood. The attacker was long gone and he heard a woman frantically calling 911 while someone kneeled in front of him.

Noise. That was all he heard. He had long stopped being able to differentiate sound and noise, and now they were all jumbled up with each other. The wound on his chest stopped hurting a while ago and Sam felt like he was getting light headed. He tried playing hero, and now he's lying on the ground, waiting for death to take a hold of him. He knows the ambulance won't make it in time, he's lost too much blood. The wound's too deep, the blood won't stop pouring out of his paling body and painting the pavement in crimson red. He just decided to let go, to let the cruelty that is life take its course of action.

'_You're going to die here, buddy… but at least you did something…' _He thought to himself. The attacker fled without getting what he wanted. After attracting such a crowd, the guy had dropped his hold on the purse and fled the scene before he could be caught. Sam smiled to himself, his face and brain no longer cooperating with him to actually smile but he thought to smile. He was able to help the woman out. _'I'm glad.'_ Sam felt his eyes droop. Someone was shouting at him. Probably telling him not to give up and that he was too young to die. Sam wanted to laugh. Most of all he wanted to live. But life never went as planned. He finally allowed his eyes to close and embraced the darkness with hesitation. The noise had died down, fading away until Sam heard nothing.

What now? Sam was surrounded in a darkness that engulfed him so that he couldn't even see his own body. What happens when you die? Sam shut his eyes tightly as a light appeared on the other side, temporarily stunning him. Well, he was about to find out.

The noise started up again. It started out muffled, undistinguishable to his ears. A faint beeping could be heard from the direction of the light, and it left Sam confused. But not as confused as he will be in a moment.

He felt hands wrap around his body and pull him forward. _'What's happening?'_ he thought to himself as the hands shoved him closer to the light until it engulfed him entirely. The noise turned into sound. He could heard things more properly now. Footsteps. Voices. The beeping getting louder, and suddenly he found himself staring up at a man in white, with a mask over his mouth and gloves on his hands. _'A-A doctor?' _Sam thought and suddenly he became aware that he was small enough to fit in the man cloaked in white's hands.

_No way._ Sam's brain started working out what was happening. It seems the doctor smiled behind his mask.

"**It was a safe delivery, miss. Congratulations on your twins. This one seems very quiet."** He said with mirth. Sam couldn't understand a word coming out of his mouth. _Wait…_ A labored breathing could be heard. _Wait…_

"**C-Can I see my baby?"** A woman's voice this time, still in the same language he couldn't understand. As stunned and troubled as he felt, Sam found himself even more stunned as he was moved around the table -'_operating table'_ Sam supplied himself- and was face to face with a woman with blonde hair, with a tired expression on her face. The woman smiled at Sam. _Did I…_

"**Welcome to the world with your older brother… Kai…"**

He didn't believe in reincarnation, but he sure as hell couldn't deny that he was just reincarnated. But another problem surfaced. This isn't English. _'…I have to learn a completely new native language…'_

-Author's Note—

Ahhh, after reading so many rebirth fanfictions going around, I wanted to tackle it myself. I just got into Haikyuu!, and I thought it might be fun to try a rebirth fanfiction in this new fandom of mine. This is a prologue so, how did it go for you? Do you already know who's going to be his brother? Some hints have been dropped.

Warning once again, this is an Original Male Character story. Meaning there will probably be undertones of gay and yaoi. I haven't planned out who he would most likely be paired with, so I guess once I get the basic story started and some characters introduced, I'll put up a poll vote, or you can start commenting?

Sam is not big on anime so… the only thing about Haikyuu! That he knows is that his friends tried to introduce it to him. He's not a volleyball enthusiast but he certainly liked playing it as a pastime. From now on, he'll be called Kai, his new given name.

See you in the next chapter. Warning: the first few chapters, is going to be baby/child arc. And before you start reading, there are spoilers in this fanfiction.


	2. GEH?

Kai stared up at the ceiling from his 'hospital cradle' as he called it. He had picked up a while ago that his new given name was Kai,. After hearing the nurses and an older man- _My father, I think?_-, seem to be cooing at him with that name.

'_So noisy…'_ he thought to himself as all around him were other babies. Crying babies, sleeping babies, you name it. He had come to terms with his reincarnation, and now he was curious about his surroundings. He looked around in his cradle and saw signs that made no sense. Then it hit him. _'It looks like… Japanese? Huh… so I reincarnated into a Japanese baby. That's troublesome.'_ Kai already tested his vocals and nonsensical gurble and gurgles came out of his mouth. It made sense; he was in a baby's body so he has no control over his vocal box yet. This meant he'll have a very normal early life of making absolutely no sense with his childish demands.

… Like how he cried a few minutes ago because of hunger.

What worried Kai the most was that he was American before he died. And now he's Japanese. He'll have to diligently learn another language. Which would probably be hard… seeing as how his thoughts are completely in English. Well at least he'll ace English for sure, this life around.

'_Ah…. When do I go home?'_ he thought to himself as he felt himself getting sleepy. Baby stamina… seriously.

-A week later-

Kai sat around in his new surroundings. He was no longer in a hospital, rather he was sitting in his father's arms as he opened the door to their house and stepped inside. He knew his mother was right behind his father, carrying his other sibling. '_My fraternal twin, probably.'_

There was another kid, maybe around the age of 6-8, who was in front of his father as soon as they entered the house and took of their shoes.

"**Dad! Can I hold him? I want to hold my little brother!"** The kid sure was energetic, as he held his hands up. _'Ah, he wants to hold me… maybe I should…'_ Kai held his hands out too, and reached for the kid's fingers. _'He's my oldest brother, isn't he…'_ he thought as he watched the kid's face light up and continue speaking to his father in that foreign language. _It's Japanese._

"**Ah, look! He likes me already!"** The dad laughed at his now eldest child.

"**Sure, why not! Be careful with him though, Akiteru. You don't want to hurt your brother."** This remark made Kai's brother a little huffy.

"**I-I won't drop him! I'll be the bestest brother they'll ever have!"** Their father crouched down with Kai in his helds, and instructed the eldest on how to hold a baby, and before they knew it, Kai was in the eldest's arms as the older child smiled down at him. Taking him to a beanie bag chair and sitting down with him in it, as their mother and dad took a seat on the living room couch. His eldest brother looked at him.

"**Hello, little guy! I'm your big brother, Akiteru! A-ki-te-ru!"** Kai blinked at Akiteru and his tiny hands reached up for his brother's face. '_Alien hand syndrome, much…? Or is it just my baby side doing curious things?'_ Kai thought. Akiteru's smile widened when Kai made a grab for his face. Kai couldn't help but smile back. _'At least I know my oldest brother's name… Akiteru.'_ The sound of footsteps approaching, made Kai curiously turn his attention to his approaching mom. In her hands, was a tiny bundle known as his other brother.

Curious honey brown eyes met each other as their mom, introduced his baby brother.

"**Kai, meet your older brother Kei!"** she sounded cheerful as she held his brother at him. Akiteru smiled at Kai.

"**Yea! You're the youngest! That's your brother, Kei! Ke-i! Do you understand?" **he grinned as Kai blinked at him. Akiteru pointed at himself. **"I'm Akiteru Tsukishima! A-ki-te-ru Tsu-ki-shi-ma**!" then he pointed at Kai. **"You're Kai Tsukishima! Ka-i Tsu-ki-shi-ma!"** and lastly, he pointed at the other baby bundle. **"And that's Kei Tsukishima! Ke-i Tsu-ki-shi-ma." **Kai blinked. Tsukishima? Is that their last name…? Wait that sounds familiar, somehow…

"_Kim… What are you doing?" A book was shoved in his face by one of his best friends. A manga to be precise._

"_Look at it, Sam!" Kim smiled. "I said I will get you into anime! You like volleyball right?" Sam twitched._

"_Yea… so?" Kim pointed at the manga._

"_This! This is a volleyball manga!" Sam sighed._

"_Kimberly, just because I like volleyball doesn't mean everything HAS to be about volleyball to get me into it…" he reasoned, but the girl just smiled._

"_You have a common interest with this manga!" What. Kimberly started going on and on about the manga and it's great characters and flipped to a specific page and pointed at the character._

"_He's my favourite! His name is…."_

Kei Tsukishima.

….GEH?! He stared at the other baby bundle in disbelief. The same bundle stared back at him with a curious glaze.

'_I've been reincarnated into a manga… of all things.'_ Kai thought to himself. This was just something else he'd have to get used to. Kai decided that starting over in life wasn't such a bad idea, however.

-One year later-

"Happy Birthday, Kei and Kai!" their oldest brother bellowed out to the fraternal twins, as he ran into the room excitedly staring at his brothers as they sat in their cradle. Kai was picking up the Japanese language quicker than he expected, but he was still lagging behind since all his thoughts were in English. Ahh… what a pain.

Just three months ago, he had finally found SOME control in his voice and was able to say 'Aki-nii' earning some tears from his parents and his brother. He wondered if his parents were crying because they were jealous that his first words were his brother's name, and not 'Mommy' or 'Daddy.' Ahh, well they had Kei to make up for that. Cept Kei's first words were Kai's name instead. Understandable enough, since Kei and Kai were always together. Japanese was still hard to understand when spoken really fast, and there were some big words he didn't quite understand. Like the word Aki-nii just said. Tanjoubu… omedatto…?

Kai quickly realized what it was when he saw the cake on the table. Tanjoubi Omedetou. _**'Happy Birthday.'**_

It's been a whole year since he died and was given a new chance. Ah, was that too morbid maybe? Feeling someone hold his hands, he turned around and saw his fraternal twin, Kei was holding his hand and looking at him. Tugging him forward as impatient as the baby he is. Kai bite back a smile. Looks like someone really wants that cake.

-At three years old-

Kai hobbled into the kitchen mischievously. _Cookies!_ He saw his mom come back from grocery shopping and had been eyeing the cookies she bought. _Cookies are life!_ However his mom refused him cookies because it'll ruin his appetite for dinner, earning a pout.

Now that his mom was taking a shower before making dinner preparations, Kai saw his chance to get a cookie in his system. However he was too short to get over the counter to reach for the cookie jar. Tsking at his predicament, Kai looked around for a solution when a voice startled him.

"…What cha doin?" Kai felt himself blush as he turned around and saw his brother staring back at him.

"K-Kei-nii… U-Umm nothing…" he looked away, feigning innocence. However Kei didn't buy it as he continued to read his brother. He looked at the counter to see the cookie jar and made a connection.

"…You wanted cookies, didn't you."_Ah…_ Kai blushed and looked away. Caught in the act!

"I-I was going to just take one…." He mumbled, like a guilty child. Okay so maybe he WAS a guilty child. He heard his brother let out a puff of air, a laugh.

"D-Don't laugh!" He pouted as Kei got closer, and blinked in stupor when his slightly taller brother got in front of the counter and kneeled down. Kai blinked.

"Kei-nii…?"

"Hurry up and get the cookie before mom comes back." Kei mumbled looking at his brother. Kai brightened up and smiled at his brother.

"Mmmkay! Love you, Kei-nii!" he exclaimed as he got on Kei's back and used the elevation to reach the cookie jar.

"If you take more than one, I'm telling mom."

"…ehhhh…? Fine."

-At four years old-

It was the first day of kindergarten. Kai was proud of himself for now understanding the basic level of Japanese. Kei was packing his back with a notebook and pencil as he stared at his brother. Kai beamed at his brother. It was getting harder to realize that they were twins. Kei was starting to outgrow Kai, much to the younger's chargin, and the older's amusement and teasing. They even had different haircuts; from Kei's short and clean cut hair, to Kai's slightly long and tousled hair. Well, they both had glasses. The same type of glasses too.

"We're going to be in kiddy school!" he beamed happily. It feels good to be in school again. After sitting around at home, and doing nothing but playing around in playgrounds with his brother, Kai couldn't wait to finally do SOMETHING. Kei rolled his eyes and went back to packing his bookbag.

"Don't pee yourself from excitement." He teased and Kai blushed heavily.

"G-Geh…! That was one time! Stupid Kei-nii…!"

-At seven years old-

Kai watched excitedly at the match between his brother's team and some other middle school, Kei right beside him. Kai could practically feel Kei basking in the comments around their brother being an ace. Kai couldn't help but feel that excitement too. Since Akiteru introduced them to his enthusiasm to volleyball, Kei and Kai have been playing it and watching their eldest brother's games.

'_Volleyball is fun!'_ Kai thought as he beamed down at his brother when he scored another point for their team.

"Go, Akii-nii!" Kai bellowed at his brother. His brother laughed next to him.

"You're too loud, Kai." But his voice held no venom as he also smiled at his brother. Akiteru turned to them and gave them a peace sign, which the two twins happily gave back. They watched the intense match and Kai smiled at Kei.

"Nee, isn't Aki-nii, just awesome at volleyball?" Kei huffed and smiled as he watched the game.

"Yup, he's the best." Kai smiled and grabbed Kei's shirt.

"Nee, do you think we'll be as good as Akii-nii in volleyball when we're older?"

"We're family, so of course. Haven't you heard the saying 'it runs in our genes?'" Kai smiled.

"I don't think it applies for hobbies, but okay! But you need to work on your receives don't you?" Kei gave Kai a sour look.

"Ahh, don't need to give me that look! It's true!"

"And YOU need to work on your blocking."

"A-Ahh…"

The match ended and Aki-nii's team won, naturally. When they went home after the long match and finished taking a shower, the twins ended up in Aki-nii's room. Kai making himself comfy on their brother's bed, while Kei sat in front of their brother doing his homework.

"Niichan, what high school are you going to?" Kei asked. Kai looked at their eldest brother, curious.

"Oh, I'm going to Karasuno! As of late, their volleyball team's strength rivals Shiratorizawa's team! I'm definitely going to the nationals in high school!"

"Can we come watch you beat the other teams in the nationals then?" Kai asked, smiling at how determined their brother was. Akiteru turned and smiled at Kai.

"You bet, little guy!"

-One year later-

Kai hopped on the rails right outside the park and balanced himself on it as he and Kei walked, ignoring his older by an hour brother's concerns of safety. They were on their way home from school and Kei had been saying that he wanted to practice his volleyball skills.

"You're going to fall, and break something." Kei warned Kai, but Kai huffed.

"No, I'm not!" However, a bzzz sound near his ear made Kai turn too sharply and he fell backwards. Right onto his brother.

"That hurts, idiot!" Kei complained as the shorter got off.

"Only idiots call other people idiots!" Kai retorted, only to have Kei pinch his nose.

"Itetetetetete! I' sorry….!" He squealed. When Kei finally let go of his nose, Kai rubbed it to make it better.

"Now stop hopping onto the rails, before you hurt yourself." Kei warned as Kai huffed.

"I only fell because I heard a bzzing sound in my ear! I hate bugs!"

"Tch."

"Don't click your tongue at-" Kai couldn't make a retort when the sound of laughter could be heard.

"Haha, Stupid Tadashi's face is all pimply!" Kai turned around and saw three kids, bullying a black haired kid that looked smaller than they did. _Aren't those freckles though?_ Kai frowned as they threw their bookbags at him.

"If you're going to be so useless, why don't you make yourself useful and carry our bags?" They laughed when the kid started to cry and Kai glared at the back of their heads.

"You-!" But he was stopped short when Kei held him back. He looked at his brother questioningly. The bully victim seemed to notice Kei and Kai's presence as he looked at them for help. His bullies followed his gaze and started when they saw Kei. '_It's to be expected. He's tall after all.'_ Kai thought as he tilted his head, wondering what his brother was going to do.

"What the hell are YOU looking at?" the louder kid shouted. His friends gulped.

"Hey isn't he, like, a 6th grader?" one of them whispered, but the arrogant one continued to glare at Kei.

"As if! He's the guy from Class 3!"

They were all surprised when Kei chuckled.

"Feh. Pathetic." The black haired loud one, looked at him offended.

"T-The heck?!" Kai snorted at the kid, and the kid turned his glare at him.

"Shut up, girly!" Kai's amusement was gone and he returned the glare.

"What did you just-?!" Kei stopped him short again and turned his head.

"Let's go." Kai blinked and looked at the bullies and the helpless kid.

"What about-" Before he could finish his sentence, the arrogant one was already next to Kei.

"Hold it, you-!" Kei turned to glare down at him. The arrogant kid suddenly lost his fighting will as Kei glared down at him, intimidating him with his height and glare.

"**WHAT.**" Kei continued to glare down at the kid, who looked like he wanted to wet himself. The kid ran away from Kei, but not before glaring at him.

"Y-Your glasses are lame!" he retorted as he ran away with his friends, as Kei laughed at the stupid retort. Kai felt like he had to say something to them.

"Those are freckles by the way, not PIMPLES! Idiot bullies!" He shouted. But they were too far to hear him. Kai just continued to chuckle.

"The heck kind of retort was that."

"Language, mister!" Kei rolled his eyes at his younger brother as he turned back to walk down the road. Kai turned to look at the kid on the ground and dug into his pockets and a pack of tissues and gave them to the kid.

"Wipe your nose and tears with these. GEHH! Kei-nii! Wait for mee!" After bowing to the kid, he turned around the sprinted off to where his brother stood waiting for him.

"Tch. You didn't have to help him." Kai pouted and rammed into his brother's side.

"Don't be mean."

-Author's Note-

Hopefully, I got the age calculations right… Wiki says Akiteru is 22 years old, meaning he's 7 years older than Kei?

I have how Kai looks all planned out in my head, so I'm asking a favour from a friend to draw him. So you guys can see what he looks like. I don't think he'll see what he looks like besides but 15 year old self. So…. Just trust the bully when he says Kai looked girly- like- tousled short hair… yea sounds kinda girly. He's even got those moe eyes Hinata has underneath those thick rimmed glasses.

I kinda wanted to write Kei having a younger fraternal brother. You know… give Kei a soft side that he shows his brothers. Kai's going to be in the volleyball team, but he's mostly on the benches. I just want to make Kei a little soft around the edges. He's still going to be a total asshat, but also secretly protective of his brother. By the way, they share a bedroom, which should highlight how close they are. Kinda warping the details a bit so it isn't an exact carbon copy of the manga/anime?

What do you guys think? Do you like it? This story is basically a retelling of the manga, with Kai included in the mix. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me, or leave your comments below! I'll be sure to reply back to you to answer anything you don't understand!

Writing the next chapter as we speak.

Trivia:

\- Kai has a peculiar fear of knives. Like he fears people holding knives, but he completely find if he's using them to make food or something. Probably because of how he died.

\- He's a good receiver, and fast learner. But he can't block for life.


	3. Secrets

Almost a year passed and Akiteru was suddenly 15 years old in high school. Kei still looked up to Akiteru a lot, and the three of them would talk about Akiteru and his time in Karasuno's Volleyball Team and Club.

When they finished school, Kai and Kei would come home and quickly do their homework, before they headed off to the neighborhood park to practice their mediocre spikes and receives. They were planning to join Boy scout's volleyball team to get some field experience after all.

"Aki-nii's been busy practicing volleyball, nee? So we gotta work hard too! For Aki-nii!" Kei grinned at his brother.

"Yep! We gotta catch up to niichan!" Kai nodded. "Un!" They practiced for a bit longer until it started turning to dusk and went home for dinner. As soons as they got home, they greeted their mom before Kai started running up the stairs.

"I'll go take a bath first!" he declared before running to their room and grabbing his towel and pajamas and speeding off into the bathroom. He sat in the bathtub and gathered the bubbles in his hands. Even though Kei told him how unmanly it was, Kai liked bubble baths. It was fun playing with the bubbles, screw what Kei says. Kai held his breath and dunked his head in the bathtub before reemerging with wet and soapy hair. He had no idea how long he had been sitting in the hot waters, but apparently long enough for his brother to bang on the door.

"Did you drown in there or something? Dinner's almost ready, and you're still not done." Kai stuck out his tongue even though Kei had no way of seeing.

"I'm almost done!" he called out as he drained the water and stepped out of the tub. After drying himself off and putting his pajamas on, he got out of the bathroom and went back downstairs, just in time to see Kei setting the table for dinner. Kai blinked. Aki-nii still wasn't home yet, meaning he stayed late to practice.

"Are we waiting on Aki-nii?" Kai asked their mom. She smiled down at Kai.

"He called and said he was a little late, so he said we could eat first." She reassured him. Kai smiled.

"Okay!" he went to help his brother finish setting down the silverwares and helped put the food on the table and sat down next to Kei.

"Itadakimasu!" They ate their food, exchanging small talk and then offered to clean the dishes for their mom, so she could rest. Kai took on the role of washing the dishes as Kei took the role of drying the dishes. At first Kei didn't want to do the dishes, but after Kai whined about helping their mom around the house, he relented. Their mom was right next to them, preparing tomorrow's bentos and making sure the two brothers didn't break anything while on dish duty. The door opened as Kai was on the last plate.

"I'm home!"

Aki-nii returned a little later after Kei and Kai helped their mom clean the dishes and Kei ran over to where his brother was taking off his shoes.

"Welcome back!" Kei exclaimed happily. Kai came to welcome him back as soon as he put the last plate away.

"You stayed behind to practice on your own again?" Kei asked, although it was obvious he did. Akiteru smiled.

"You bet! Everyone's super good, so I gotta put more time into practice! I won't lose to them!" Kai tilted his head at his brother.

"Lose to them? But aren't you guys on the same team?" Akiteru chuckled at his youngest brother's simple thinking.

"I'm aiming to be a 1st year regular on the team! That's why I won't lose to my fellow teammembers!" Kei stared in awe at his brother.

"It'll be so cool if you get to be a regular! There's a lot of people in that club right?"

"You bet!" Akiteru went into the kitchen where his food was ready.

"Oh mom! I'm going to need three bentos tomorrow! One before morning practice, one for lunch, and one to eat before club activities!" he exclaimed as he sat down to eat. Their mother chuckled at how high spirited her son was.

"Sure thing~! High in protein and low in fat, right?"

"Yep! Thanks mom!" Akiteru exclaimed as he began to stuff himself. Kei sat down near Akiteru and they continued their conversation about Akiteru and his club activities. Kai smiled and decided to go upstairs and review for his quiz tomorrow before bedtime. After 30 minutes of reviewing, Kai finally had enough of cramming information in his head and threw his notebook in the bin.

"That's not where your notebook belongs." Kai huffed as he stared at his brother coming into the room, towel on his shoulders, signaling that he had finished taking a bath. Kei fished out Kai's notebook from the bin and put it on his desk. Kai rolled his eyes.

"I would have fished it out in the morning, before school…I'm just sick of looking at the same information for 30 minutes."

"Uh huh. Well go brush your teeth. Lights out in 5 minutes, mom says." Kei informed him as he got into his own bed and played on his console while he waited for Kai to finish. Still pouting more at his brother, he decided to go to the bathroom and brush his teeth before going back to their room, and scurrying under his blankets.

Their mom came in and they quietly said goodnight as the lights were turned off.

Time passed and the year was almost over. Kai watched Aki-nii toss the volleyball at the board of the basketball hop again and again while he worked on the math homework he and Kei received. Recently they had joined the boy scout's volleyball team so they can officially play volleyball now. Kai unintentionally let out a giggle when he remembered how badly Kei received the ball, earning a look from both Kei and Aki-nii, to which he just smiled. He probably should laugh, seeing as how

"Hey, you have a match tomorrow right? Can we come watch?" Kei suddenly asked as he also watched, while helping Kai out with some of the harder math problems. Aki-nii thought about it.

"Hmmm. I'd get nervous with you watching, so nope!" Kai and Kei pouted. _'That's what you always say!'_ Kai thought but didn't voice it out as he went back to doing the homework.

"Aww… Hey, what position do you play now? Is it the same one you played in middle school?"

"You got it!" Kei and Kai smiled.

"Then that makes you ace!" Kei exclaimed.

The silence that followed was brief, but it was there. Kai picked it up. '_That hesitation is ominous…'_ he thought as he stopped doing his homework and turned his attention to Akii-nii. As quick as the hesitation happened, Akiteru turned and smiled at them.

"Yep! Guess so!" he exclaimed as Kei continued to talk about how cool Niichan was. Kai blinked. Maybe that hesitation was a fluke! Or maybe he imagined it. _'But then him not letting us see his matches would make sense…'_ Kai shook his head. Now wasn't the time to doubt his brother! Akiteru turned to his brothers.

"What about you guys? I heard you guys joined the boy scout's team, right?" Kei's look turned sour as Kai started laughing as he remembered the earlier incident.

"Our side lost cause Kei-nii's bad at receiving!" he laughed much to his brother's dismay and Aki-nii's amusement. Kei blushed as he glared at Kai.

"S-Says the one who couldn't even serve! The ball hit you clean in the face!" It was Kai's turn to blush as Aki-nii laughed at the two.

"At least you two are having fun! Anddd, you two ARE getting along with the rest of the team right? Volleyball's all about 'connecting' with your team members as well." Kai snickered at the face Kei made, making the slightly older glare at him, while still maintain his grimace.

"I-I know that already!" Kei grumbled with a slight pout and avoiding eye contact with Akiteru.

"Don't give me that look!" Akiteru scolded. "You're a little liar! That face is a dead giveaway!" Akiteru stared at their youngest for his answer. "I hope YOU'RE connecting with your teammates." Kai tilted his head and smiled.

"Only if they talk to me first! Initiating is troublesome!" Akiteru sighed, having lost hope in his brothers. Kei just smirked.

"May it's because you look like a girl, so they get tongue-tied around you." Kai felt a vein pop on his forehead. And he pinched his twin's cheeks painfully, causing the older to yelp and pay him back by pinching him back. Neither seemed to want to let go first and Akiteru sighed once again.

"Well… at least you got each other I guess."

* * *

Kai stretched as they walked to where the rest of the scouts meet to play volleyball.

"Uwaaaaa, man… I didn't get enough sleep last night." Kei rolled his eyes.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have played video games until 2am in the morning." Kai scratched his cheek as they arrived at the club.

"It was a good game."

"Tch."

"Don't click your tongue at me! It's rude!" Kei seemed to ignore him as he stepped into the club and greeted them, although no one seemed to pay attention as they were all doing their own thing. Kai also walked in and grinned, not saying much since Kei already spoke for the both of them. A gasp of surprise caught Kai's attention as he turned around to the source and his tilted his head.

'Ah, it's him, Freckles.' Kai thought. "Hey you're…" Before he could say anymore, Freckles bowed to his brother.

"T-Thank you for saving me that day!" the boy stuttered as he kept himself bent to the proper 45 degrees. Kai tilted his head. 'That was like a year ago… Was he that grateful? Then again…Kei-nii did kinda save him from bullies.'

If you're wondering why Kai typically had his internal monologues more than he talked, well, to keep it simple, Kai was an introvert. He had been in his old life, and that trait carried over. And sometimes talking to other people requires too much energy and investment. Something a lazy sloth like Kai didn't like. Probably also why his parents had always yelled at him for his half-assed attitude for school. _'As long as I get a passing grade, why should I waste my time getting a higher one when mine's already acceptable?'_ Is what he always told them. Something he didn't need to worry about in this life, since well… he's been reborn, meaning his knowledge passed over, something which pleased Kai since it meant he didn't need to try in this life as well. Japanese Literature was his weakest point, while English was his strongest. Speaking of which, 'Oh right. I died.' Before he could dwell on that thought more, or ponder on it, his brother speaking broke him out of his entire internal monologue.

"Have… we met before?" Kai sighed. 'As expected of Kei-nii.' He thought. Well Kei did have a knack for forgetting people he had no reason to care about. 'That's cruel though…' Freckles seemed shocked and disheartened that his – 'hero' Kai supplied- savior seemed to forget about him, but tried to press on the conversation, determined about something.

"I-I…" Freckles looked around for a conversation starter and his eyes landed on Kai. Kai tilted his head, not knowing what to say to the boy but decided on greeting him. He held up two fingers to form a peace sign.

"Yo." Kai sweatdropped at his own greeting. 'God, I'm so lame.' Freckles seemed to think otherwise as he looked at Kai.

"A-Ah! You're the girl who gave me tissues!"

…

Backtrack. What?

Kei turned his body as he started trembling and Kai glared at him with an embarrassed blush.

"Don't laugh, you meanie!" he barked as he crossed his arms and looked away from Freckles, eye twitching.

"I'm not a girl…" he grumbled. He took in slight joy at the horrified look Freckles had on his face when he realized his mistake.

"I-I'M SO SORRY! I-I thought you were…!" Kai sighed as the boy kept apologizing and scratched his head.

"I get it, already. Quit apologizing. It's not the first time I got that." Kei coughed into his fist and Kai glared at his twin.'That's it! I'm getting a haircut!' The kid looked around for something to lessen the awkward atmosphere surrounding the three. He looked down.

"Oh! You have really awesome sneakers!" he complimented Kei before blushing. "Mine are just the school gym sneakers." Kei blinked confused. 'Probably the first time someone trying to talk to him.' Kai thought as he remembered how most kids in their classes seemed to avoid him because of his height.

"Thanks? These are just hand-me-downs though. I'm just using my brother's until we go buy new ones next week." This seemed to interest Freckles even more.

"Your brother plays volleyball too?" Kai blinked. 'How does sneakers equate to volleyball…?' he mentally asked himself. Looking at his brother's face, Kai let out a good natured sigh. 'Ah, there's that look. He's about to gloat about Akiteru-nii again.' Kai watched as Kei blushed and pridefully talked about his brother.

"He's part of the championship high school called Karasuno. He's… kinda the ace over there." If possible, Freckles seemed to get even more interested. 'Godammit introduce yourself already!'(Kai)

"Woah! The ace of a championship high school?! That's really cool!" Kai fought really hard to keep a stupid grin off his face when Kei blushed more.

"It-It's not like it's a big deal or anything! I mean, he's been an ace since middle school, so…" Kai watched as Yamaguchi, as he finally introduced himself, asked more about their brother, making Kei practically bask in pride as he talked about it. Kei interrupted his moment of spacing out by nudging him.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Kai blinked as he stared at the two who stared back at him, waiting for his input.

"…something?" That earned him a slap upside the head, which brought out a tiny yelp from him and a surprised noise from Yamaguchi.

"Tch. Don't be smart with me."

"…Don't click your tongue at me, either."

The three of them talked more, well mostly Yamaguchi talking his butt off to Kei and Kei responding here and there as Kai just listened as they practiced tossing the ball to each other. At the end of the day, when Kei went to go to the bathroom, leaving Kai and Yamaguchi to awkwardly stand there next to each other waiting for the tallest to get back. Kai blinked in surprised as Yamaguchi turned to address him.

"I… want to thank you for the tissues… and for helping me as well that day." Kai blinked.

"I didn't do much." Yamaguchi blushed and flailed.

"Y-You and Tsukki really helped me out that day…! I didn't have to carry their stuff that day!" Kai sweatdropped. 'That's what you're happy about…?! And… Tsukki…?' Kai scratched his cheek slightly embarrassed.

"W-Well you don't need to thank me… I didn't do much cept tell them those weren't pimples…"

"Well, you also gave me tissues…"

"T-That's common sense…!" Yamaguchi smiled.

"You don't talk much, but you're really kind!" Kai's blushed deepened as he looked away.

"…T-thanks… I guess…" Kai was so embarrassed. 'Oh man, oh man… It's just as I thought. Talking to others makes me feel itchy…'Kai stood there awkwardly rocking back and forth on his feet. Yamaguchi looking at him with confusion and he probably expected Kai to hold a small conversation with him, something that made heat travel down Kai's neck. 'What do I even talk about…? What's even appropriate to talk about in this situation…? It's… weird to suddenly ask him what color he likes…' Kai bit back a sigh of relief when Kei-nii came back from his potty break.

"Okay, let's go." Kei looked at Kai confused and brought a palm to Kai's forehead, startling the younger. "What's wrong? You're flushed right now." Kai pouted and pushed Kei's hand away from his forehead.

"Nothing's wrong!" he huffed as he turned around and grabbed his stuff. He set the strap of the duffle bag on his shoulder and turned to the two and waited.

Kei rolled his eyes at how weird his brother was, but he and Yamaguchi grabbed their personal bags and the three of them began to walk home, Yamaguchi and Kei conversing while Kai listened and gave his opinion once in a blue moon.

* * *

It was starting to occur to Kai that Aki-nii was acting very strange. Especially when the eldest kept insisting that he and Kei not go to his tournaments or practice playoffs. Well, it was always strange to Kai, but he never really thought about it until now. 'Now that I think about it… it's strange… Why would he not want us to see him play? He use to always tell us to come watch him play.'

It wasn't until one day that Kai made the connection as he watched Aki-nii take off his shoes. As usual, Kei asked him about volleyball as they greeted him home.

"Hey, how was your practice match today? Did you guys win as usual?" Kei asked. Kai stood a little ways in front of his eldest brother, a game console in hand as he watched. Aki-nii smiled and after some hesitation replied.

"It was no problem! I hit a whole ton of spikes!" Kei's eyes glimmered with admiration as he stared as his brother's back.

"That's so cool!" There, Kai saw it. For a split second, Aki-nii's expression darkened as his lips trembled. Kai put two and two together as he quickly turned his head to pretend to be into his game as Aki-nii looked up at him.

' …Shit… he's lying to us.' Kai internally panicked. What now? If Kei found out, he would be devastated…! Kai could understand why he had to lie, if someone looked at you with such admiration, you'd have to keep their expectations of you up, especially if it's your brother, but this made Kai worry about how Kei-nii would react. 'Kei-nii loves volleyball because of Aki-nii! If he finds out Aki-nii has been lying to him…' Kai's fingers on his console trembled as he tried not to think of the millions of end results that could happen. He won't tell him. He won't tell Kei-nii. He'll let him keep believing.

**-Author's Note-**

**Ahhh! It's 4 am! I was going to write more but… IT'S 4AM. I'll write another chapter tomorrow because I'm really feeling it….**

**I'M REALLY FEELING IT! –insert Shulk pose-**

**Ahem…. Onto an actual author's note…**

**Okay, so some of you probably noticed. 'Hey Kei saved Yamaguchi a couple of days ago, why did you change it to a whole year?' well… my story was far too gone with the story telling, and me? I'm the king-er, queen- of laziness, so I don't want to change it to the correct statement. I'll keep it as if it was a year ago or something. In my defense, there's no time label for flashbacks within flashbacks and no age/time stamp, so I had to figure out everything in my head. So timestamps are mostly through last minute speculation. [I seriously read the chapter more than 10 times for this, please don't kill me. I tried my best…]**

**And another thing, Kai officially has art now! Do you guys want to see what he looked like when he was young to make people call him girlie/ Yamaguchi think he's a girl? ;gringrin-oppurtunity for you guys to review for your comment right here-**

**Also, the number on Kei's shirt is incorrect. Me and my friend had a brainfart on the numbers assigned to everyone and I somehow thought Yamaguchi was a higher number. [like 8 or something, don't ask.] We'll change it to the proper unlucky number of 13. [Fun fact: 13 is just a western thing. Japan and China bought don't like the number 4, because it's pronunciation-if you say it differently- sounds a lot like the word 'die'. In China, 14 is an even more unlucky number because the pronunciation is similar to the saying 'shall/will die.'] For more fun facts, please subscribe to Catfacts! ;snickers;**

**Also it got a little wonky in some parts because I haven't really introduced him, a.k.a his personality. He's a soft spoken and shy introvert who thinks way too much before he realizes his opportunity to speak is gone or the topic has been changed already. He hates getting involved with drama because it's a pain to death with and too energy consuming. Cause you know, testing patience and getting emotionally attached sort of ruins him. He doesn't dwell on the fact that he died because he doesn't want to think back to how scary it was. [PTSD maybe?] He worries too much about other people's feelings and what they think of him.[You'll see that very soon.]**

**I don't know what else I can say about him, without making him sound….so ick.**

**I don't know if I'm going to pair Kai up with anyone… It's totally up to you guys who you want to pair him up with, if you actually DO want to pair him up with someone. **

**ANYWHOOO! He'll meet his next set of characters in the next chapter! After shit goes down! Anyone want to take a stab at who they think are the next cast he meets? Hint hint, it's not anyone on HIS soon-to-be team.**


	4. Of Lies and an Encounter

However things never went according to plan in life. It was lunchtime as he sat at his seat, eating the bento their mom packed for them. Kei had a very thoughtful expression on his face, which made Kai just a tad curious as to why he adorned such an expression. Getting a bit thirsty, he rummaged his bookbag for his water bottle, only to suddenly remember he forgot to take it with him. His brother seemed to notice and offered his bottle to Kai, to which the latter shook his head.

"Nah, I'll go buy some milk from the vending machine down the hall." He reassured his brother, and Kei smirked.

"I swear, if you say what I think you're going to say, I will kick you." He warned. Kei rolled his eyes and stared at him. Kai blinked unsure if he should leave. Kei looked like he wanted to tell him something. However Kei just shook his head.

"Nah, I'll tell you when you get back. I'm going to head over to Yamaguchi's class for a minute." And with that, Kei got up and walked out. Kai shrugged this off as he took out enough change for the vending machine from his coin bag and walked off to go buy his drink. Punching in the button for his desired drink, he sighed as his stomach churned. Going by his gut instincts, quite literally, Kai felt like today was going to be a bad day. Grabbing his milk cartoon from the dispenser, he made his way back to his classroom and sat back down in his seat and continued to eat his lunch. Kei wasn't back yet, so he probably had something really important to talk about to Yamaguchi or he just got caught up talking about the new pairs of headphones that are coming out today.

* * *

Kai stood next to his brother as he scanned the gym for someone in particular. Kai was NOT feeling okay. He was definitely NOT fine. When his brother finally came back from Yamaguchi's class and declared that they were watching their oldest brother play no matter what, to prove to someone in Yamaguchi's class that his brother WAS a regular on the team, Kai's stomach ache got worse and Kai fought really hard to keep a straight face while insisting that Akiteru might get nervous if we intruded just like that. But Kei didn't listen to him, and now here were the three of them, Kai glancing at Kei as the latter scanned the gym for signs of their brother. Only to come short. Kai already knew this, Akiteru wasn't a regular. Well he had his suspicious anyway, given how Akiteru acted the other day.

"See? It's just as I said! The aces are this third year…"

'_Shut up.'_

"…and a 2nd year who's called the "Small Super Ace!"

'_Shut up!'_

"It's been like that the whole year!"

'_Can't you tell we've heard enough?!' _Even Yamaguchi had enough of his rambling.

"We get it already! We can tell just by looking…!" Kai glanced at Kei, only to find his brother in a state of shock. Kai started to feel really bad. A really terrible kind of bad. His chest felt constricted as he watched the shocked and lost look spread across his face.

Suddenly Kei looked away from the court and looked directly ahead and Kai followed his glance. There on the benches rooting for Karasuno High School, was Aki-nii. The guilt and horror in his eldest brother's eyes only made the constriction in his chest seem to amplify. It didn't hurt to breath, it hurt in other ways and it scared Kai. The voice of his twin brought him back for a split second, but he wish he didn't hear anything.

"… Pathetic." It was the only thing Kei said and Kai flinched. Gingerly he reached out for his brother's hands and laced them together, squeezing it as a pathetic form of comfort. How do you comfort someone when you've never done this before?!

"Kei-nii.. I…" He jolted in shock when Kei slapped his hand away and looked at him, no glared at him. Kai knew he had been found out.

"You knew… And you didn't…" Kai didn't say anything. Not when Kei already looks so crushed. He'd wait it out until Kei was ready to lash out at him. But Kei didn't, he never lashed out at Kai, instead he just turned around and dashed out of the gym. He didn't look back even as Yamaguchi and Kai called out to him. Yamaguchi's classmate just shrugged. Yamaguchi shared a look with Kai before taking off to find Kei.

"Told you guys." Kai glared at him, making the other flinch and walk away awkwardly. He so didn't like that guy… He turned to Yamaguchi who looked lost and looked at him for what to do. Kai didn't know. Everything hurt. He looked back at Aki-nii who stared back in shame and guilt. _It hurts._ He thought back to Kei, who just had the shock of his life and given up on volleyball. _It hurts so much._

He didn't want to decide. Who needed comforting more? He had two choices to choose from. Aki-nii, who tried so hard to make it as a regular for Kei to be proud of, who had just had all his lies thrown right back at him. Or Kei-nii, who doesn't know what to believe anymore, who had always admired his brother and volleyball, only to find out his role model had been lying. They both needed comfort, they both needed him, someone, ANYONE, to tell them it was okay. Kai's stomach churned, and he didn't pay attention to anything until someone in the court screamed.

"Oh no! The spike was too powerful and is going for the audience! OI KID!"

"KAI!" Kai turned towards the sound of his oldest brother's voice, however just a few seconds later, Kai was staring up at the ceiling as pain erupted from his face, particularly his nose. It didn't take Kai's attention away from the churning of his stomach and the clenching of his chest. For once in his life, Kai didn't care what the crowd surrounding him thought as he started crying. He couldn't take this. For once in his life, he cried for other people. For once in his life, he let himself care about others. He let himself get too deep. Too attached. It was already too late for him to pretend not to care, but at the moment he didn't care. He'll let himself get attached, as long as Kei and Akiteru don't look so…goddamn hurt.

He didn't know how long he laid there crying, and possibly bleeding from the wetness from his nose, or even if it was just snot.

His hands were pulled from his tearful face by a hand much bigger than his and he was greeted by the sight of Akiteru, who looked down at him in concern.

"Kai! Oh god, your nose is bleeding…!" Kai hissed when Akiteru pressed a tissue on his nose to help with the bleeding. Akiteru cursed underneath his breath. "Shit… I think it's broken… I'm taking you to the hospital!" Kai would have scoffed and told Akiteru to mind HIS language, nevermind the fact that he just used a curse in his thoughts, if not to the fact that he was so goddamn emotionally drained, and the way his brother looked at him.

Akiteru looked at him on full-out concern and kept telling Kai it'll be okay as he was lifted into his brother's arms and carried away from the forming and concerned crowd. Akiteru looked concerned, but Kai could still see the guilt in his eyes. It still hurt. Well not his nose, but that really hurt as well. His chest still hurts. Why was he the one being comforted when he wasn't the one who needed it the most? Mental suffering was just as bad as physical and yet…

Kai weakly gripped Akiteru's shirt and looked up at his brother.

"Are you okay…?" Akiteru stared at him in shock before smiling sadly.

"You're the one injured and yet you worry about me…" Kai looked away.

"B-Brothers worry about each other…don't they?" he whispered more to himself but Akiteru managed to hear him and smiled a little.

"Yea… they do…I'll be fine…" Kai whimpered out as every breath hurt. Kai laid in his brother's arms, gingerly pressing the tissue on his broken nose as his brother picked up his pace a little to get to the hospital. Kai still worried about Kei, even if Kei might hate him… but… if it's Yamaguchi, Kei should be fine.

Kei needed someone to be with him right now, and if it was Yamaguchi it should be fine. Yamaguchi should know. They both did. He didn't need a conversation, but he just… needed SOMEONE right now. Kai wouldn't let him be alone after all this… and he knew Yamaguchi wouldn't either. In the short amount of time they knew each other, Yamaguchi had the twins figured out more than anyone else bothered to. That someone should have been Kai, but…

Kai's chest constricted even more when he remembered how angry Kei looked, and he was on the receiving end of it, wasn't he? Kai didn't know what to do.

* * *

Kai mumbled something and pressed at the padded cast on his nose, feeling the weird texture as Aki-nii spoke with the doctor before the doctor excused himself to look after other paitences and Aki-nii sat down next to. His hand was swatted away by a stern looking Akiteru.

"Stop doing that, you might peel it off." Kai scrunched his nose in annoyance. Geez, even that felt weird.

"But it feels weird to have something on your nose!" he whined, instinctively trying to touch the cast again, yet his brother's hand prevented it again.

"Stop that and it'll get better faster!" Akiteru barked before looked down. "Kei's really mad at me, huh…?" he asked all of a sudden and Kai looked away.

"He's… not mad at you… he just… Well..." Akiteru stared at Kai. Kai stared right back. Akiteru didn't have to say anything, Kai knew what he was thinking. 'You're mad at me too, aren't you?'

"I'm not mad at you. And neither is Kei, Aki-nii." _But I think he's mad at me…_ Akiteru frowned at his youngest brother.

"How do you know that?" Kai tilted his head and offered his brother a smile.

"Because I just do."

They sat in silent for a while, before Akiteru sighed and got up.

"Come on, let's get you home." Kai nodded and got off the inspection table and they left the hospital.

When they got home, their mother wouldn't leave Kai alone since the minute she saw him. Of course she yelled at Akiteru and Kai for not being careful enough- even though it wasn't really their fault since they had no control over it-.

Akiteru quietly excused himself and disappeared into his room, which worried Kai to no end, especially with the way he looked. He still looked tortured. After escaping his mother's grasp, Kai finished eating his dinner before politely excusing himself to his room, saying that he had a lot of homework to do. Which was a lie, he just wanted some time alone. His mom informed him that she would be going to the store for a bit, which he numbly nodded to and retreated into his room. Kei still hasn't returned home and Kai felt like things between them were going to be awkward, especially now since Kei seemed to hate him.

Kai plopped down on his bed the stared at the ceiling, worrying about his twin. He wondered what was going to happen to the three of them now. The thought of there being an awkwardness between them didn't settle well with Kai. The front door opened and close, signaling that their mom just left for a while.

Kai didn't know how long he had been lying on his bed, but he had dozed off a little before a sound startled him. It sounded like it was coming from Akiteru's room. Kai gulped and quickly got up before opening the door to his room and stepping out into the hall to head for his brother's room. He didn't expect to see Kei standing outside Akiteru's room with a blank stare. Kai froze and just stared at his older twin. Just when did he get home? Kai didn't hear him come home at all.

Their eyes met for a brief moment and Kai just smiled almost shyly as Kei stared at him with wide eyes. He probably saw the cast on his nose. Kai looked from Kei to Akiteru's room, his ears picked up soft sobbing from the room and his eyes widened, but before he could move, Kei had already crossed the hallway and grabbed Kai's arm, dragging him back into their room.

"W-Wait…! Aki-nii, he-" he blinked when Kei made him sit on his computer chair.

"The best thing to do right now is to leave him alone." Kei mumbled as he stared at Kai's face, particularly glaring at the cast on his nose. Kai answered Kei's silent question.

"Ahh… A little after you ran off, I got hit in the face by a volleyball from the court. The doctor says I broke my nose…" Kei crinkled his nose before he turned around and mumbled something about doing his homework. Kai reached up in an instant and grabbed his brother's shirt, preventing him from escaping.

"Are… you mad at Aki-nii?" Kai asked softly. Kei glanced back at him before looking away.

"No, I'm not mad at him." Believing in his words, Kai asked another question.

"Please don't be mad at me… I didn't mean to keep it from you. I just found out the other day, and I didn't want to hurt you or Aki-nii…" Kei grunted.

"I know that. I'm not mad at either of you. Rather…" Kai watched his brother's hand form a fist.

"Huh?" Kei shook his head.

"Just forget it. Now go do your homework." Kai blinked.

"I finished it in school."

"…It's called homework." Kai stuck his tongue out.

"Well I did it in school during lunch break because I don't wanna do it at home…" Kei clicked his tongue.

"Then, go rest. Knowing you and your clumsiness, you'll probably hurt yourself even more." Kai sweatdropped but smiled, Kei has a weird way of showing his love, but at least Kei doesn't hate him.

"Alright, alright. I'll take a shower before going to bed."

"Tch." Kai smiled and decided to let Kei get away with that just this one time.

* * *

Kai pouted as he kept bouncing the ball up and down on his forearms. For once he was playing volleyball without his brother. Kei was acting a little weird, Kai could say. He wasn't as enthusiastic about volleyball as he used to be, always telling Kai to hurry up with his homework so they could practice. But here he was, practicing volleyball alone while his brother took his sweet time with his homework. Kai decided to just leave Kei alone for today and practice volleyball outside. He told his mom that he'll be in the park nearby, before heading off.

It's not like Kei was avoiding volleyball. He still played, just not as much or as passionately as before. Kai frowned. Kei said that there was nothing awkward between them, and there really wasn't. Kei still acted like how he usually acted around Kai. But things between Kei and Aki-nii were getting a little strange. Kei no longer asked about volleyball, Aki-nii barely spoke about how he and his team were doing. _Nothing between them my ass._ Kai thought.

It has been 1 week since then, and Kai's nose was slowly healing. He still had 3 more weeks until it was deemed safe to take off his cast, but it didn't hurt as much anymore. However, he misjudged the angle of the ball as it met his forearms and it hit him right in the face. Kai yelped before kneeling over, and shielding his nose. That hurt ALOT! Kai didn't care how far the volleyball rolled away, as he just kneeled there in pain. Maybe he should have waited until his nose completely healed before playing.

When he finally looked up, he saw a pair of shoes in front of him. Blinking, Kai strained to look up even more and squinted at the ray of sunlight that casted over the figure, completely turning him into a black silhouette. Kai groaned as he got up and saw a boy just a little older than him holding out his ball. The other boy's eyes widened when he looked over Kai. Kai was about to ask what's wrong until he felt something wet drip down his nose. He gingerly wiped it and pulled his hand back to see blood.

Yep. He definitely should have waiting for him to heal. The other kid grabbed his arm.

"You're bleeding." He stated. Kai blinked.

"I know." A second voice joined them.

"Iwa-chan! Why did you run off- Ehh?! Did you finally lash out at someone?!" Kai saw a red vein appear on this 'Iwa-chan's temple and he threw the volleyball he was holding at the new guy. Kai flinched when it made contact with his face. Ouch… that must hurt.

"I didn't punch him! I saw him lying on the ground and decided to help." The new guy stared at the black haired boy in betrayal.

"Iwa-chan! That hurt!" Kai just stood there and wiped his bloody nose with the collar of his shirt and picked up his volleyball, which had rolled to him after greeting the new guy, the brunette's face. His face hurt, but at least he didn't bust his nose enough to add more weeks to his pain. But the bloody nose will be a problem. The black haired kid frowned.

"That's not sanitary! Here!" He dug into his pocket and took out a pack of tissues and handed one to Kai, who took it after some hesitation.

"…Thanks…" The brunette pointed at his own nose.

"What's that on your nose?" he asked curiously. Kai blinked.

"Oh… it's a cast." The brunette tilted his head confused.

"You broke your nose, and you thought playing volleyball was a good idea?" Kai pouted.

"Well, I don't like being stuck at home with nothing to do. And I like volleyball so…" The brunette's face lit up.

"Oh! We like volleyball too! Isn't that right, Iwa-chan?" The black haired kid just tsked at him before turning to Kai.

"Shouldn't you go home? Your nose is still kind of bleeding." Kai pouted.

"Don't wanna." '_It's suffocating to be at home right now.'_ Kai thought to himself as he spun the ball in his arms. The brunette just smiled.

"Then, can we play with you?" he asked. The black haired boy just glared at his friend, as if to scold him about making an injured person play, but Kai blinked.

"Ahh… sure?" The Iwa-chan tsked as the brunette smiled.

"Cool! By the way, let's introduce each other! My name's Oikawa Tooru! This is Iwa-chan! ITE!" The black haired kid smacked his head.

"My name's not Iwa-chan! It's Iwaizumi! Learn to introduce other people properly!" Kai couldn't help the small giggle that escaped his throat at the exchange between the two. He smiled a little.

"Nice to meet you two. My name is Kai Tsukishima." He bowed a little. "Please take care of me!" Oikawa smiled.

"You idiot, he's injured!" Oikawa didn't see what the big deal was and pouted.

"Well, if he's the one spiking instead of receiving, it'll be fine, right?" Kai frowned.

"I don't know how to spike…" he mumbled feeling a tad embarrassed as the two of them just stared at him. Oikawa bursted out laughing.

"Hahahah! How can you play volleyball and not know how to hit the ball?!" he cried laughing as Kai blushed and glared at the older one.

"I-I just can't, okay…?! I'm a good receiver though!" he shouted back, trying to defend his pride. Oikawa just continued to laugh until he was told to shut up by Iwaizumi.

"Haha! How can you be good at receiving and completely suck at spiking?! Are you pulling my leg?" Kai was tempted to throw his volleyball at the older's face. Why this smart mouth-!

"I'll prove it then! I'll show you how good at receiving I am!" he barked. He felt Iwaizumi stare at him with wide eyes after that declaration, in shock and almost pity. Like he had barked up the wrong tree. Oikawa stopped laughing and smiled seriously.

"Oh really? You think you can receive my spikes?" The way Oikawa said it, told Kai he should be aware of his spikes. Kai glared right back.

"Uh huh!" Oikawa grinned and held his hand out.

"Okay! Let's make a bet then!" Kai blinked. A bet? Iwaizumi frowned.

"Oi. He's still injured!" he scolded. Oikawa pouted.

"As long as I don't aim for his face, we can have the bet, right?" Kai and Iwaizumi both sprouted a vein on their temples. '_How annoying!'_ They both thought at the same time. Well, Kai's nose stopped bleeding, so Kai grabbed Oikawa's outstretched hand.

"Fine. What kind of bet?" Oikawa grinned a very Cheshire cat like smile.

"If you can't hit at least one of my spikes, you have to do anything I say." He sang. Kai frowned. If he can't hit even one? Is he looking down on him already? Oikawa smiled.

"But if you DO, hit one of my spikes, I'll do anything you say. How's that? Fair enough right?" Kai rolled his eyes. There's no way he was going to be intimidated.

"Fine." Oikawa smiled.

"Okay! The bet is on! Wash your shirt first. The blood on it is distracting."

"Tch. Annoying…"

* * *

**Well, that's it for now! I know I'm overdue for a chapter by… 3 days? But I have class until 8pm and the time remaining is not enough for me to write around 8 pages OTL. That and I was stuck on the Kei and Akiteru scene…**

**I don't know how it happened but… having Kai hit in the face by the volleyball seemed like a nice way to fill in the awkwardness of the scene itself. Yea… Sorry Kai.**

**Yay! Kai meets young Iwaizumi and Oikawa! And the first thing Oikawa does is provoke our little Kai. *sighs***

**I should probably start replying to reviews huh?**

**Thanks for the review, Kiku! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm glad you enjoy this story! I love Kai too! I wanted someone that Tsukki could look after all protectively while still being the spiteful, and mean tsundere to others that we all know and love. I don't think they'll float apart since they've been looking out for each other for a long time, and this shouldn't break the bond between two close twins!**

**Thank you to everyone else who reviewed in the other chapters! The reviews help a lot and motivate me!**

**I should start planning out what happens next. Spoon for thoughts, what do you guys think will happen in the little bet of theirs? Hmmm?**

**In case I have to say this again:**

**No, Kai will not be a regular on the team. : (**

**Edit: I didn't know that fanfiction was being stupid and didn't let me use [-] as event breakers... now I have to double check my chapters. Lame.**


	5. Monster Serves

Turns out blood is hard to wash off from a white t-shirt, so Kai just took it off since Oikawa was whiney about blood being distracting.

'_Tch... I met someone who seems bothersome to deal with.' _ Kai thought as he deemed his shirt beyond saveable and threw it in the trashcan. He rather tell his mom that he lost his shirt rather than asking her how to take bloodstains off a shirt. He didn't want to shorten his mom's lifespan. Luckily he was wearing a black tank top underneath so he didn't have to play without a shirt on. Once he faced Oikawa and Iwaizumi, he made a face at Oikawa's confident and almost arrogant grin. Oikawa tossed the ball in the air a few times. Iwaizumi was the 'referree' and scowled at his friend, no doubt unhappy that he was messing with an injured person _'Even though my nose stopped bleeding a while ago.' _ Kai supplied in his head. Oikawa smiled widely at Kai.

"Ready for me, Kai-chan?" _'K-Kai-chan?!'_ Kai got into his defensive position and held his arms locked in front of him.

"I-It's not Kai-chan! Ready when you a-" Even before he spoke, Oikawa had already started to spike. The ball whipped right past his face at such a speed that his hair blew in the breeze it made. Kai blinked a few times. _'What-' He_ looked at the ball that was innocently rolling away toward him after it hit the wall behind him. He gaped back at Oikawak. _'What a scary throw! How much strength does a kid's body have these days?!'_ Kai screamed in his head. He was beginning to see why Oikawa had a shit-eating grin on his face when Kai agreed to the bet. He already knew that there was no way he'd lose with such a monster serve.

"You idiot, you agreed not to aim at his face!" Iwaizumi barked at his friend. Oikawa smiled and waved.

"Maa, maa, I wasn't aiming for his face! That was just a warning shot!" Kai regained his composer and glared at the brunette. _'Well he's not winning on my watch!'_ Kai thought.

"That was a cheap shot! I didn't even finish my sentence yet!" he barked, surprising the two. Oikawa just smiled.

"Maa, just give up already Kai-chan! There's no way you'll be able to block that ball!" Oikawa teased, which pissed Kai off even more. Kai glared right back at the confident brunette.

"Really now? Was that a challenge? And it's not Kai-chan, dammit!" Oikawa just grinned.

"Not giving up? You're pretty interesting!" Oikawa commented, thoroughly amused with the determination of the blonde. Kai huffed.

"It's still too soon to be thinking about giving up!" Kai barked back not that he considered giving up an option. _"Plus volleyball is a game of learning and quick reflexes!"_ Kai was certain that if he observed Oikawa enough, he would get the speed and direction of the ball down in no time. After all, he was one of the best defenders in the boy's scout and a quick learner!

"Why don't we change the rules a bit then?" Oikawa offered. Kai blinked.

"Huh?" Iwaizumi seemed just as confused.

"Idiot, isn't it a little late to be changing the rules?" Oikawa tsked his friend.

"Iwa-chan! I'll only change the rules if Kai-chan wants to! I'm asking him if he wants to, not you- GEH!" Iwaizumi had thrown his water bottle at Oikawa. Kai rolled his eyes as Oikawa whined at Iwaizumi for being rough. Is this how their friendship is?

"No thanks. I don't need new rules." Oikawa smirked.

"So you think you can receive a ball correctly?"

"Yes." _And I can rub it in your face. _Locking his arms together, Kai got into receiving position for another spike. He watched how Oikawa tossed the ball in the air. As soon as Oikawa's hand made contact with the ball, Kai ran. And missed. He watched as the ball flew just past his fingertips, ghost of a wind touching his knuckles.

"Tch!" Oikawa grinned triumphly that his serve was still ill received.

"Are you sure you're good at receiving?" Oikawa taunted, and Kai glared at the taller kid.

"No one throws monster serves like those! How do you expect anyone to receive that?!" Oikawa smirked.

"That's the point! You don't want your opponent to catch it!" Oikawa grinned as he watched Kai stand in receiving position again.

"Oh? Another?" It was Kai's turns to smirk.

"Bring it on."

A few more missed balls later, and Kai found himself seriously questioning why he let the stupid brunette talk him into this. When the next ball barely hit his arm, Kai felt a sense of pride that he was getting closed to getting the monster serves. Both boys were panting, Kai more so than oikawa as he had to run all over the court to try to receive the serve.

"Give up yet?" Kai pouted.

"Not even close!" Oikawa was amused to find someone this stubborn.

"Fine. A few more tosses and that's it. It's kinda getting dark." Kai blinked and looked at the sky. It wasn't as bright as it was before the bet. The sun was getting ready to fall.

_I didn't know we were doing this for that long. _But that explained why they were both winded.

"Alright. Next serve is coming up, Kai-chan~"

_If I get use to it, it should be easier. I just need to calm down. _Kai took a deep breath and relaxed his position a bit. I have to be light on my feet so I can dash either way, whereever the ball spikes. Once Oikawa tossed the ball in the air, Kai felt everything slow down as he watched the movement of Oikawa's hand. He also saw Oikawa's eyes look to his right.

_There!_

Breaking into a dash, Kai ran to where he thought the ball would go based on what he saw. His arm flooded with pain as the volleyball barely bounced off his arm. It just ricocheted off his arm and shot off the court. Kai shook his throbbing arms, but a shit eating grin was taking over his face. Getting better at this. Oikawa whistled.

"Not bad. But that wasn't a successful receive."

"I know that!" Oikawa grinned.

"Well, it's way too late to shot anymore serves~! I win, Kai-chan!" Kai's jaw dropped.

"W-What?! You said I few more!"

"But my arm is going to fall off…" _Liar!_ Oikawa grinned.

"So since I won… what should I make you do?" Iwaizumi frowned but said nothing to his smug brunette friend. Kai frowned and crossed his arms, waiting for his unfairly given penalty.

"Can I just buy you meat buns?"

"Hey! You can't choose your own penalty like that!" _Growl._

Kai smiled knowingly as the brunette blushed at his traitorous stomach.

"Ugghh... Well I was kind of hungry, so fine! You can buy me a meat buns as your punishment." _At least it's not something too expensive for my allowance._ Kai grumbled as he took them to a nearby convience store and bought them both meat buns.

Even though he didn't have to buy Oikawa's friend a meat bun, he decided to anyway. As Oikawa ate his bun, Kai handed a meat bun to the other kid who looked at him funny.

"Here." He insisted.

"I wasn't part of the bet." Kai shrugged.

"I know. I just don't think it would be fair to leave you out of it, if I'm buying your friend one anyway. So I think you should have one too." Iwaizumi regarded him for a bit before taking the bun, muttering a thanks.

"Sorry about this idiot making you do this." Kai shrugged.

"It's whatever. It helped kill some time." With that he bid the insufferable brunette and his friend goodbye before making his way home before it got dark.

Arriving home, it was almost 5:30 in the afternoon and Kai took off his shoes.

"I'm home!" he called out as he put his shoes away neatly and put his slippers on. Kei came down the stairs.

"Where were you?" he asked, to which Kai smiled.

"Playing in the park! I met someone super annoying today, though." Kei blinked.

"Did you now?"

"Suuuuuuper annoying. But turns out he plays volleyball too, so I played some ball with him." Kei frowned.

"While your nose is still healing?" Kei noticed how his brother wasn't wearing the shirt he left with.

"Hey where's the shirt you were wearing when you left?"

"Umm…. I threw it out." Kai looked anywhere cept his brother's face because he knew his brother was squinting at him right about now.

"And why's that….?"

"Ahh… It was ruined with blood." Kai chuckled nervously as he waved his hands at his half angry and half concerned twin. Sighing. Kei grabbed his brother and marched him to their room. Sitting Kai down at his desk, Kei looked over Kai's face and still casted nose.

"I didn't rebreak it! The volleyball just hit me hard enough to give me a nosebleed. Plus the bone healed already… the doctor is just keeping the cast on 'just in case'." Kai rolled his eyes when Kei didn't listen to him and continued to poke and probe at him. While he was glad Kei showed he cared and loved him as an 'older' brother, if Kei went into protective mode, it would mean Kai couldn't go outside until the cast was off period. And it's no fun being coped at home for 3 weeks.

After further inspection at Kai's face, Kei nodded to himself when he was sure nothing was out of the ordinary and Kai had not broken his nose AGAIN.

"You have to be more careful, especially when you're still healing." Kei chastised him, to which Kai frowned.

"I miscalculated where the ball would land." After catching the way his brother looked at him, Kai sighed. "Fine. I'll be more careful."

* * *

**Omake**

Oikawa finished his meat bun as he walked down the street.

"Mannn, I was going to make him carry my backpack or something…" he whined, before catching the glare Iwaizumi gave him. Oikawa grinned.

"Just kiddingg~" Oikawa blinked noticing the meat bun Iwaizumi was taking his time eating.

"Looks like he got you one too!" Oikawa blinked at the glance his friend gave him. "Iwa-chan?"

"Let's admit it. You ended it early because you were afraid he'll actually get it after that."

"I did no such thing!"

* * *

So. I have no defense for myself as to why this took A YEAR TO WRITE. Well actually I do, but it's not something everyone wants to hear. The wonders of what crippling MDD can do to a person. ANYWAY. I'm back, and while I'm still suffering from ongoing anhedonia and MDD, I pulled whatever motivation and determination I could find out of my ass and finally finished possible ONE OF THE HARDEST chapters for me to write. And probably one of the worsts that I've written- Sorry-

I kept wondering if Oikawa should win, or if Kai should win. And what the winner make the loser do. I ended up making Kai lose because if he won, I feel like it's kind of a Mary-Sue-ish thing to do? Kids don't learn how to tackle a situation THAT fast, so for Kai to figure out how to naturally receive Oikawa's serve in just one spike and receive session seems too much. And settling for meat buns for the winner seems the safest option because everything else would cause more problems. I had initially wanted Kai to win and the bet he makes isn't even a bet. [It's him extended a hand of friendship to the insufferable brunette.]

The ending to this chapter just gives you more of a look at the brotherly love between the two! I feel like because Kei and Kai are close to each other's age, they'd be more open to each other and latched to each other's side. I mean you can see how awkward Akiteru and Kei have become over the years, but I chalked it up to age difference((and because Akiteru is the reason why Kei became so emotionally distant…)) and because Akiteru doesn't remain with Kei, having gone to college, unlike Kai who is practically glued to his brother's side. But it doesn't mean Kei doesn't care about Akiteru, we know Kei still cares a great deal for his older brother.

The next chapter is still going to be before they get to high school, but it's probably going to be the last chapter before I finally get to high school. Where Kai tries to keep Kei's 'lil-shit-attitude' in control.

_To answer a question a reviewer was concerned about:_

**Why Kai isn't a regular?**

Well in short, there seems to be no one on the regular team that I am willing to replace because they are all important. That and Kai isn't a stable/well-rounded player. His overall spiking and serving are horrendous, it's only his receives that are solid, and you can't really make such an imbalanced player take place of the more well-rounded player.

Don't worry, while Kai isn't going to be a regular, I have plans for him…

I would answer questions more… personally, but the fact that I haven't updated in over A YEAR, I should make sure my followers and audience aren't gone so…. Yea.

Any questions for me? Any… thoughts on my story?

I'm so sorry it took me a year to get to this, but here I am now.


End file.
